Chapter Text
Once upon a time, there was an elderly man and his granddaughter walking on the border of a kingdom and an empire on a stormy night as they trekked through the harsh wind and rain until they spotted an extremely young hoglet. He was cold, dirty, and abandoned. He didn't cry, shout, or pout; he was just lying there. The granddaughter was quick to want to help return the poor thing to his family, but the grandfather was not so much. But reluctantly, with some begging, he was convinced into helping. The closest town to the woods where they were walking through was the capital of the Kingdom of Astalis. Searching through the huge city, they realized that there was only one hedgehog family that had children: the royal family. The two took the hoglet to the castle, and once they got there, the family was quick to help. Helping to clean and dry the hoglet. The royal family was horrified by what they saw when his quills were cleaned. The black hoglet had red stripes, the marks of Doom. Instantly, the queen and king ordered that the hoglet be killed. The granddaughter and the elderly man refused, instead taking the hoglet back home in the Eggman Empire and raising him.
One day, the hoglet, now older, and the granddaughter, who was like a sister to him, were ice-skating on a moonlit night. It was peaceful, just as all the other times they skated on this frosty lake. Until a group of strangers approached, all of them jeering and cursing hateful remarks towards the hoglet, even going as far as physical violence. Angered, the sister defended the cursed hoglet, but she too became a target of the strangers' attacks. Enraged, the hoglet fought back, releasing his curse. Killing the strangers. Within moments, the townspeople arrived, carrying pitchforks and torches, all of them wanting to drive the cursed beast away to protect the town. The sister tried to calm them, yelling at the cursed hoglet to run. He fought to stay with her, but in the end, he and only a couple of townsfolk survived.
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Shadow had heard that story hundreds of times as he walked the streets. The story was spread like wildfire, going from parent to child, then spreading among their friends. Shadow knew that story all too well; it was his life after all. Though the way he had heard it told was twisted and had drifted from the true events of that night.
Shadow stopped in front of a tall stone wall with a grand steel barricaded door. The heavily armored guards who were stationed by the gate looked over towards Shadow. One of them approached, and Shadow easily recognized him. An egotistical jackal who thought that, despite only being a rank above the other guards and being easy as hell to beat in combat, he was better than them all. His helmet had a sharp, downward-pointing nose and was a metallic grey, other than the jagged red spot over his left eye.
"What business do you have here at the Robotnic Palace?" The guard demanded. His hand hovered over his blade, which rested in a glimmering red sheath adorned with white and black leather straps and a poisonous red gem.
Shadow bit back a harsh remark, a growl escaping as he spoke, "You and I both know that I work here."
The guard drew his blade slightly. "Careful there, cursed one. One wrong move and we have the right to gut you like a pheasant." He nodded towards two guards who were waiting at the door, ready to open it.
They grunted and started to push the heavy doors open. Shadow walked past them, looking over his shoulder to see the jackal watching him through the closing doors. Continuing, he headed straight for the heart of this bustling inner sanctum of the palace. All the grey stone walls reached towards the sky, and the lack of vegetation made this place more dreary than it needed to be. Shadow had always wondered what this place had looked like when a less stricken and unforgiving emperor had ruled. What if Maria had lived to become Empress? Would she have been as unforgiving, or would her way of controlling be one made from trust and empathy? Shadow shook the thoughts away; if any of those thoughts had been heard by another, he would lose his head. And much to Shadow's displeasure, not one person would care. Shadow slowed his pace as two children ran past him, and others followed the two. They all were holding wooden swords and acting out a drama of sorts. Shadow recognized one of the elder children, the only mobian among the group of humans. His light blue quills and his red eyes were like a beacon among the grey-on-grey of the area. Following close behind the young imperial prince was his sister, a shorter human girl; some red flower petals from who-knows-where were caught in her snow-white hair. One of the children stopped and stared, tilting their head. Shadow was painfully aware of the boy's eyes watching him as he walked.
"Isn't that the curse we were told to stay away from?" The kid whispered, not so quietly, to the imperial prince, who had slowed to see why the kid had stopped.
Sage, who was beside the boy, had slapped him on his arm, her nose wrinkled in disgust and annoyance. "Have you no manners?"
"OW! What? I was just asking! Also, if he is, then why should I be wasting good words on it? It's a bad omen that it's even alive!" The boy argued. Shadow bit down his words and hurried his pace, not wishing to hear another word from their conversation.
Shadow was sitting in a dark cellar, filling out paperwork that no one else wanted to do or had the time to. The only light was from some candles and a lantern that was sitting on the oak table. Shadow put his quill down, inspecting his work. Most of the things here were responding to complaints from villagers who were being more affected by the war each day, and asking for supplies to make it through this war. Shadow stood, stretching while he could before another load of less-than-necessary papers was given to him to fill out. Shadow grumbled, despite how nice it was not to be stared at like the monster he was, and the quiet of the cellar was actually quite nice. It was quite boring down here, and he desperately wished he could be doing something that felt to be helping more with what all these fools were complaining about.
The door swung open, and a mobian serving maid stood in the doorframe, a worried expression on her face. Her voice shook slightly as she relayed a message, "The Emperor would like to see you, Shadow." Shadow nodded and grabbed his leather gloves and slipped them back on, along with tossing his brown, aged cloak over his shoulders and clasping the silver buttons together.
"Do you always have to be so afraid when you come down here?" Shadow sighed under his breath. "It's not like I'm going to eat you or anything..." Shadow walked past the maid, who tensed up as he walked by.
The Emperor looked down at Shadow from his place on his throne. He wore an exquisite robe and stood up as Shadow got on his knees and bowed. "You called for me, Your Highness?"
"I did indeed." He replied, his grin making his large mustache rise. He started walking down the steps towards Shadow, who kept his head lowered. "Has all your work been completed?" Shadow nodded. He continued, "Even the silent one?"
Shadow nodded once again. "I had completed that earlier this morning. I do expect the news of his death to spread by next Sunday."
The emperor nodded slowly. "Good. I have another task for you. One I feel will prove useful in ending this war, and in ending Astalis." A scroll fell in front of Shadow, rolling to his feet. The emperor continued, "I had already contacted that bat about getting the affairs in order, and I had already found a replacement to file the trash that you had previously been assigned to fill out."
Shadow glanced up at the emperor before grabbing the scroll and quickly reading it. The writing was hard to read, proving it must have been the emperor himself who had written this. In it was the usual time limit, this one being nine months, which was quite generous but still annoying since the one who had to be spied on and slain was the Prince of Astalis. To complete this task, not only would he need to hide the fact that he was cursed, but he'd also need to get close to the enemy's prince. Shadow rolled up the scroll once more and nodded.
The emperor grinned wider and chuckled, "You leave for the border at sundown. Leave my sight."
"I won't let you down," Shadow said before leaving the long, empty room. As he opened the large door, the imperial prince and princess were standing there as if waiting for their chat to be done with. Though they looked at him like he was some creature found in the mud, there was some curiosity and some borderline respect hidden beneath it that showed through. As he walked his way towards the exit of the palace, Shadow tried to come up with ways to complete this quickly and efficiently. If he were to complete it soon and gain valuable information, then his pay would be higher than if he took all nine months.
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Snow slowly fell on the kingdom's bustling streets. It had been a couple of months so far, and he had come up with a way to complete this effectively. He'd cover his red stripes with black paint, not the easiest way nor the best for his quills, but it would last the longest, and it'd be less likely to wash off, unlike the charcoal he had used to cover the red fur along his eyes and on his eyelids. To compensate for the fact that he had an abnormally long tail and such sharp teeth, he'd come up with the excuse of being part badger. And for his plan, he'd become Sir Lancelot, a knight of Astalis' army. He could already skillfully use a sword and fight, and in time, he'd be assigned to be one of the prince's guards.
Compared to the Eggman Empire, Astalis was bright, not only in colors but in spirit too. And its population mainly consisted of mobians, many still being taller than Shadow, which was bothersome, unlike the empire's mainly human population. Shadow walked down the streets towards the palace along with a group of other Knights, all of them in their armor, and many of them had something like a cloak on to keep warm. It was surprisingly easy to become one of them, and with how many black-furred knights there were, it was easy to blend in.
"It's examinations today. We all need to report to the square court." A higher-ranking echidna called from the front of the group. He headed for Shadow, towering over him. "Lancelot, this is your first one, correct?"
"Yessir." Shadow nodded.
Sir Gawain nodded. "I'll keep this brief; it's basically when the royal family or other nobles watch us all train and fight one another. This day is one of the easiest ways to get acknowledged by superiors and sometimes promoted."
"Hey, Knuckles! Come help me with this really quick!" A voice called out.
Sir Gawain nodded, waving a quick goodbye before leaving to help whoever had called to him. Shadow continued his march along with the others to their destination. Shadow kept a keen eye out for the blue-quilled prince as they walked. Compared to all the huge muscular knights that surrounded him, Shadow doubted he would have the luck of even being seen by the royal family. Shadow growled. With this time frame, it seemed like this might be impossible if he didn't execute this opportunity right. One of the knights beside him glanced over, opening their mouth asif they were going to say something, but didn't. Shadow sighed, his breath white in the cold air. Despite it being mid-fall, it was already snowing, and he was chilled to the bone.
Lancelot gripped his wooden sword; his opponent frowned at the way he was holding it. They were a knight who was a stickler for how things should be done and a narcissist. Their grip tightened around their own wooden blade, and they charged. Shadow easily dodged and struck them in the stomach, the sound echoing across the area. Some of the "battling" knights that were happening around them looked over. Lancelot looked towards the covered seating where groups of visiting lords and ladies, other nobles, and, of course, the royal family sat. Some servants were lining the large stone square, watching as well. Shadow's ear flicked as he heard the antagonizing knight charging at him. Swiftly, Lancelot swung his blade back, stopping a breath away from the opponent's neck. Shadow looked over his shoulder at them; even though their helmet, Shadow could see the angry shock in their eyes at losing. Shadow sheathed his blade, awaiting his next match. Knights who had lost shuffled away towards a new opponent who had also lost against another. It wasn't really a bracket or anything, nor was there a scoring system; it really just went down to winners fight winners, losers fight losers, or people who are lesser than their last opponent. Lancelot watched as a higher-ranked knight stopped in front of him; their armor had some golden designs on it, matching the yellow horn that jutted out of their specially made helmet. Lancelot got into a fighting stance, his hand hovering over the handle of his wooden blade. As soon as they both nodded and started dueling, they charged at one another, their blades clanking against each other. Lancelot let out a hiss of pain as he got hit in his shoulder and stepped back. He blocked the next attack, then managed to strike them on their side, stunning them for a moment. In that moment, Lancelot put his wooden blade to their throat, ending this pretend duel in his favor.
"Good job... urm. I don't recall meeting you. The name's Sir Aldric." The chameleon knight stood and put his hand out to shake Lancelot's.
"Lancelot. You fought well yourself." Lancelot had briefly introduced himself, shaking their hand and watching the higher-ranking knight walk off to duel another.
As more and more knights fell at his blade, Lancelot began to wonder how they had managed to last this long, especially with the new weapons the Emperor had been coming up with and trying to perfect. Lancelot kept looking towards the shaded seating, trying to spot the prince who was nowhere to be seen. His siblings were there, but neither of them was of interest to Shadow's task. As the snows picked up and the nobles had gotten bored, and the knights had become tired, the examination ended. Shadow sheathed his wooden blade and put it in the barrel full of the other wooden swords.
Shadow neatly put his armor, which was an array of silver and bronze, away. Shadow looked around his sleeping quarters. It was small, had a window that looked down onto the street, a bed, a tall chiffonier, a table with a wooden chair that was hundreds of times more comfortable than the stool Shadow was forced to sit on when he was filling out mountains of paper. Shadow looked at the black paint on his quills and the charcoal around his eyes, checking to see if it was perfect and inconspicuous. A knock came at his door, and Shadow quickly stuffed his "makeup" into one of the drawers of the chiffonier. Lancelot opened the door, and Sir Aldric stood there, still in his glittering armor.
"Lancelot. You are needed by Her Majesty. Report to the throne room at once... You know your way there, right?" Lancelot nodded and started putting his armor back on as quickly as he could.
Queen Aleena sat atop her throne, its rims gold and trimmed with other jewels and majestic carvings. Her posture was portrait-perfect, and her purple quills were styled to perfection. Her gown was tight-fitting from her shoulders to her waist, but was poofy everywhere else. She held her head high, and she looked to be made for her place as queen of Astalis. Her green eyes looked down at Lancelot as he knelt before her, waiting for her to say what she had brought him here for. The blue, dim light from the windows flickered in the snowfall, and all Lancelot could do was watch the patterns on the elegant rug beneath him dance in the shadows. Lancelot heard the Queen sit up and walk towards him, walking in a slow circle around him, examining the kneeling knight.
"Lancelot. You only recently became one of my knights, correct?" She asked, her voice cold but also tender.
"Yes, Your Highness," Lancelot responded.
The Queen hummed and started elegantly walking back to her throne. "Sir Lancelot. It has a nice ring to it, does it not?" Lancelot looked up in surprise at what she was hinting at, but quickly looked back down. The queen chuckled before continuing with a more serious tone, "You are very skilled, and if I'm not wrong, the manor you're from and the lord who traded you off did so for more supplies in this war. Well, isn't that something? And you're only in your early twenties... Tell me something. Can you be trusted?"
Lancelot nodded. "I lay my life out for this kingdom. I won't let any harm come to anyone who's on my side, who's done nothing wrong. I do say I can be trusted, Your Highness." Though Shadow's words were hollow, he was laying his life out for what needed to be done.
"Good. I can't have a knight of mine be untrustworthy, especially one I find will have a very important task." She sat back down.
"May I inquire what this task might be?" Shadow knew this ask might take him back to where he started, but he wanted to know; he needed to know.
"I have a particularly rumbunctious prince who's around your age. He was supposed to be at the examination, but no. He'd snuck out again to do god knows what. So, his siblings and I came up with an idea." She dramatically paused. "We get him a personal guard. One to never leave his side and to stop, or at the very least accompany him on his ventures out of the palace. With this war and the assassination of our general, I can't afford to have him sneaking out." Lancelot looked up at the queen as she finished telling her plan. "And we thought a young, talented, and fast knight would be best. Lancelot, you've not been fully knighted, have you?"
"No. Not yet, Your Highness." Lancelot couldn't believe this. Not only was this getting a whole lot easier, but they were basically handing him this on a silver platter.
The Queen nodded. "You know how these things go, right?" Lancelot nodded. "Good. Sir Aldric, go get the other high-ranking officials in the kingdom. There is no need for a big ceremony at a cold time like this."
Sir Aldric nodded and swiftly left, the door clanking shut behind him. Lancelot looked up towards Queen Aleena and spoke, "So you wish for me to become his personal guard? Why not any of the other high-ranking knights?"
"Because they have families to come back to, and we've already tried them years ago." Queen Aleena responded.
Lancelot looked up, his confused eyes hidden by his helmet. "What about them having families to go back to?"
The queen laughed, "Well, you see. If you're his personal guard, you'll also be expected to test his food for poison if you guys aren't eating at the castle."
Lancelot nodded, "I can understand that. Also, I'm sorry; I spoke out of turn. I apologize, and I won't make that mistake again."
"Lancelot, it's fine. Now then, I'll have to ask that you get rid of that seemingly well-loved pailing cloak of yours. Though clearly a favorite, it is now beyond the efforts of the laundry maid. That poor, faded thing should be carefully folded away, perhaps as a pattern for a future garment, or simply as a memory, but it must not endure another day of public duty. A person of your standing deserves an apparel that reflects your vitality." The queen instructed. Lancelot nodded, though he did quite like his cloak; he knew that its fading red and torn edges were not ones that a knight would wear purposefully.
Shadow walked down the long red carpet to where the queen was standing, her crown glittering in the candlelight. Lancelot stopped in front of her, knelt, and bowed his head. His armor was freshly waxed, and some of it was brand new, made by the young fox blacksmith. His shoulder piece was replaced, and it had a red cape-like cloth that wrapped around him loosely, attached to it by a golden button. Lancelot's helmetless head was bowed respectfully low as he raised the shimmering, detailed sword he was given and presented it to her highness.
The Queen spoke, her words perfectly rehearsed and natural, "Here do I swear fealty to Astalis, that I will obey their lawful commands and uphold the Crown and Kingdom."
"Here do I swear fealty to Astalis, that I will obey their lawful commands and uphold the Crown and Kingdom," Lancelot repeated, remembering how he had watched things similar to this years ago and remembered reading instructions on what to do from books he had long since forgotten the titles of.
Queen Aleena continued, "In the name of Chaos, I charge you to be brave." She tapped the tip of the blade to his right shoulder. "In the name of Light Gaia, I charge you to be just." She tapped his left shoulder with the blade. "In the name of Solaris, I charge you to defend the young and innocent." The sword's blade touched the top of Lancelot's head, "In the name of every fallen soldier in battle who fought for you and I, every slaughtered being for the good of our world, and for every loved one you have lost, I charge you to protect all who stand with you, all who stand behind you, and all who don't know of thy name." She tapped Lancelot's chest with the tip of the blade for a second. She carefully laid the sword in her palms and held it as she continued. "I dub thee Sir Lancelot, the skilled and honorable knight of Astalis. Rise, Sir Lancelot. Uphold these vows till you draw your last breath in a blaze of glory or when you're old and frail. When you take this sword to become your own, you will forever uphold these commands."
Lancelot stood, an involuntary smile tugging at the edges of his lips. Shadow tried to be stoic, but something about this, about the way they didn't question what his true motives were, about the way they didn't look at him like a monster. Lancelot carefully took the blade. "I won't let you down, Queen Aleena."
Clapping echoed through the room from the people watching. Most were high-ranking officials; others were curious servants or bored knights. Lancelot waited till everyone filed out of the room before heading to where he'd take his vigil. A long, silent night was ahead of him. He was placed to guard the front gates outside the palace. He had a list of people whom he could allow to enter, but anyone else he had to deny, simple enough.
The moon was full and lit the snow that by morning would be starting to melt. Crickets chirped in the bushes lining the moat, and the sound of something splashing down in the depths was unnerving. Shadow shivered as a gust of cold wind hit him. The cape helped with the bitter cold and flowed in the wind like a flag. Shadow turned his head as he heard the sound of a door creaking open and closing. Lancelot's hand hovered over his blade as he walked over to inspect it. Beside the huge castle gates was a set of metal-barred doors for knights to easily get through. A hooded figure opened the second door and stopped as Lancelot stepped in their way, his sword drawn.
"Oh great heavens!" The hooded figure gasped, putting their hand over their heart.
Lancelot spoke, his voice demanding and serious, "What business do you have sneaking out of the palace? It's quite cold and late, and I fear that you're not even supposed to be out. Are you?"
The hooded Mobian spoke, a nervous tone hanging on their frankly childish words. "I am allowed to go where I please, good Sir."
"Sir- Ma'am- um... whoever you may be, I must ask you to go back to where you came from, or else I'll have to take you there myself," Lancelot ordered, not sheathing his sword.
The hooded figure looked down at the backwards way he was holding the sword. "I'm not a maiden; also, you're holding that incorrectly."
"I'd focus on returning to your chambers rather than how I hold my blade." Shadow was beginning to get annoyed by whoever they might be. Lancelot spoke again, "Actually, what's your name?"
"None of your business, I fear." They shrugged. Lancelot had grown tired of this. Swiftly, he swiped their hood off, revealing their royal blue quills that seemed to catch the moonlight just right. Their emerald green eyes flashed with surprise at the action. The features of the young man who stood before him were borderline masculine; it wouldn't be hard to mistake this hedgehog for a woman who was just a little taller than average height. Shadow recognized who they were after a moment of looking at their face.
"Your Highness? What are you even doing out this late?" Lancelot asked, his shock and genuine confusion showing in his voice.
Prince Sonic sighed and looked to the side, annoyed at getting caught, showing in his green eyes that faded to black at the bottom. "Nothing anymore. Also, congratulations on being knighted, Sir Lancelot. You're very skilled."
"I'm grateful, and I thank you for your praise, but I must ask you to return to your chambers. It's too cold for a midnight walk." Lancelot shooed the prince towards the doors that he'd just walked out of.
As he was about to argue, two knights walked out, Sir Gawain and Sir Lamorak. Sir Lamorak was a very egotistical hawk who, despite now being of the same status as Lancelot, still looked at him like a peasant. Sir Gawain walked up to the prince and grabbed his shoulder. "Your Majesty. How many times must we go through this charade?"
The prince rolled his eyes and followed the two knights who escorted him back into the castle, leaving Lancelot back in his silence. Shadow walked back to his post and just stood there, still keeping a good eye out for trouble. The night stretched on, and all that was on his mind was the Prince, the one he had to get information from, then kill. This task seemed to get a little more impossible now that he had met the damn guy. But he's had worse; he's done acts with a target before he killed them that he'd rather not admit to. Some would sneer that it was for a love of the game, but that wasn't right. Sometimes, a close bond is necessary to leave no traces of you behind. This wasn't a game to Shadow; this was a job, a cursed job for a cursed hedgehog.